Becoming president during a pandemic probably wasn’t on her to-do list – but Elizabeth Allan has Rutherglen Glencairn in her blood.
Her grandfather attended Glens matches around 100 years ago while her dad introduced her to the club.
Then she met her husband, Hamish B. Allan, through Rutherglen Glencairn.
Now Elizabeth presides over the club that named its stadium in honour of her soulmate in 2020 after his sad passing.
Allan was also a key figure when Glens had to move from the original Southcroft Park due to the M74 extension.
Appointed to the role as club president in October last year, taking over from Alex McArthur, Allan has enjoyed her first few months in the role and is well aware of the pandemic challenges.
She said: “I was delighted to be made president in October. This is my second stint on the committee, having been on a number of years ago to help relocate when the motorway was built.
“The committee work well together and I need to acknowledge the efforts they put in. I was general secretary around 2004 before I came back on the committee when Covid kicked in.
“I wanted to help the club in any way I could. The club presumably thought I could do something as well so it was touching that they thought I could be a good worker.
“I am a third generation Rutherglen Glencairn supporter. My grandfather watched the team around 1920 and took my dad. My dad went until he passed in 2001 and I started going around 1991, which is where I met Hamish.
“Now the stadium is named after the man I went on to marry. That renaming ceremony was held at the start of the season which was very nice as he had been an official of the club.
“That was a big thing for me, so Rutherglen Glencairn must be in my genes! Everybody works together to keep us moving at the highest level.”
Financially the pandemic took its toll on all clubs across Scotland. From Rutherglen Glencairn to Premiership champions Rangers, everyone felt the pinch in some form.
Glens eventually received funding through the SFA and the National Lottery, albeit it took its time in arriving on their doorstep. But it was greatly appreciated all the same.
Without it, Allan doesn’t know where Glens or many other West of Scotland Football League clubs would be. Matches continued behind closed doors last season before the term was declared null and void by the spring.
Allan explained: “It was incredibly difficult as there was so much uncertainty at the start of the pandemic. Would matches go ahead? Would they not?
“Then at the start of this season it was so good to get spectators in. The fact they could get in was such a big thing. For the club, the league proceeding as anticipated is a big thing.
“Spectators are the lifeblood of every club. It was really difficult the first full year of Covid that took us up to the end of the 2021 season.
“We were fortunate that in the end, there was funding agreed with the SFA and the National Lottery. It was sort of a compensation scheme and clubs were asked to fill in what expenses they had incurred.
“There were still running costs involved even when we weren’t playing. That helped but with spectators coming through the gate again, that has given us a revenue stream we didn’t have last season.
“Heating, lights, insurance, there were still costs incurred. Eventually we and other clubs did get a compensation package. There was the fear of clubs going out of business.
"Even bigger clubs had to find raising other sources of revenue.”
Rutherglen Glencairn have, for the first time, implemented season tickets for supporters. The club has been encouraged by the uptake in the move but Allan knows there’s a long way to go.
She added: “We are trying to raise the profile of the club as much as possible.
"The last couple of matches that Scotland played at home when we did, we asked the Tartan Army to drop in and see us.
"Some of them did come. Things like that help raise our profile. This is the first year we have tried season tickets because one or two people had asked about them.
“We got approval from the members to go down this road. We also encourage younger people to come with parents – we won’t charge U12s as we want to attract the next generation in the area.
“We are also trying to attract new talent to come through the youth teams to play for the first team.”
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